Seven Fort Calhoun High School wrestlers left Saturday's Bennington Invite with top-six finishes.
Merritt Olberding and Beckah Gossman earned top honors, securing gold medals in their weight classes. Olberding's boys team took sixth in the team standings, while Gossman's girls were 10th.
Altogether, five of the Pioneers' medalists were boys. Olberding capped his first-place effort with a third-period pin of David City Aquinas' Symon Kastl. He won a technical fall and a 11-7 decision to reach the finals, too.
Second-place Presley Olberding, Merritt's twin brother, secured his finish at 126 pounds with a first-round technical fall and a 9-4 decision in the semifinals. He then lost the championship match, though, 8-4.
FCHS' TJ DeMilt was second in his weight class, too. The 165-pounder secured two pins before he was pinned in the finale.
Levi Lasher and Alex Schuler secured fourth-place efforts as well. Lasher was 2-2 at 144 pounds, while Schuler secured the same tournament record at 190.
On the girls' side, Gossman earned three-straight victories for Calhoun. The freshman 155-pounder topped Khloe Gardner of Missouri Valley in just 15 seconds before also pinning her second-round opponent — Paw Wah of Omaha Northwest.
Then, in the finals, the first-place Pioneer bested Missouri Valley's Ryley Marcum by 17-0 technical fall.
Ali Dill added a fourth-place finish for the FCHS girls, too. The 130-pounder was 4-2, earning two pins, a major decision and a decision.
The Calhoun wrestlers next compete Thursday at home. Both the boys and girls host Arlington and Ralston at 6 p.m. for a triangular.
FCHS girls start with dual win
Before its Bennington visit, the Fort Calhoun girls wrestled at Wahoo on Thursday, earning a 48-12 dual win. Kendall Magana-Torres, Gossman and Emma Ochoa-Gomez earned contested victories in the win.
Magana-Torres pinned Hannah Barber in 3:57 at 130 pounds, while Gossman won her 155-pound match in 1:43. Ochoa-Gomez, meanwhile, secured a 105-pound class pin in 2:52.
Pioneers Annaleigh McLaughlin, Madi Larrick, Dill, Anna Rae Hartline and Lydia Kmitta secured team points by forfeit against the Warriors, too.
BENNINGTON INVITE
Saturday at Bennington High School
BOYS
Team standings: Bennington 206, Columbus 203.5, Elkhorn South 188.5, Missouri Valley 107, David City Aquinas 100.5, Fort Calhoun 97.5, Elkhorn Mount Michael 84, Auburn 51.5, Boys Town 27, Omaha Northwest 13.
Fort Calhoun top-6 placers: 1, Merritt Olberding, 120 pounds. 2, Presley Olberding, 126. 2, TJ DeMilt, 165. 4, Levi Lasher, 144. 4, Alex Schuler, 190.
GIRLS
Team standings: Yutan 167, Beatrice 149, Missouri Valley 135, Auburn 129.5, Riverside 128.5, Blair 119, Omaha Westview 100, Bennington 81, Columbus 57, Fort Calhoun 45.5, Northwest 22.
Fort Calhoun top-6 placers: 1, Beckah Gossman, 155 pounds. 4, Ali Dill, 130.
